Soap

"Another World" isn't the first daytime soap opera to feature fans as extras in a scene or two - but "AW" is the first soap to use 12 members of its audience to serve on an attempted murder trial jury. The necessity for a jury trial on "AW" came about when Brittany Love (played by Sharon Gabet) shot and wounded her evil husband, Peter (played by Marcus Smythe), when he pulled a gun on her in the family stable as she was trying to calm a frightened horse. Now the jury must decide whether Brittany shot Peter in self-defense or whether she tried to carry out a repeated threat to kill him. The lucky fans selected to serve on the jury were chosen from a randomly selected group of 50 finalists, who responded to ads placed in the New York metropolitan area.

When Rebecca Street joined the CBS soap "The Young and the Restless" several months ago, anyone who was paying attention to her character, Jessica Blair, was convinced that the ailing woman had AIDS. Attempts to confirm that those suspicions were correct were met with denials by everyone connected to the soap. Just recently, however, the show's co-creator and head writer, Bill Bell, announced that Jessica's mystery illness is indeed AIDS. The decision to reveal that fact, we were told, had been put off because it wasn't definite until now that Jessica would be an AIDS victim.

When Marlena Brady's longtime friend Tamara Price arrives on August 21 to sing at Marlena and Roman's re-marriage ceremony, many "Days of Our Lives" viewers will recognize her. Singer/actress Marilyn McCoo is originating the role of Tamara. According to an NBC source, Marilyn's role on "DOOL" will be recurring, and the show hopes that she'll be with them for a long time. In the story line, Marilyn's character is slated as a possible love interest for Abe Carver (played by Jim Reynolds)

Despite the fact that he's changing - literally - the face of soaps, Brian Frons, the vice president of NBC daytime, won't take any credit. Frons said when he saw the "bible" for his network's proposed new half- hour afternoon soap "Generations" (due in March), he decided then to alter the show from all-white to half-black. "I just didn't see the point of another soap about the same types of people," he said. "It didn't take a rocket scientist to see that a lot of shows on in prime time several years ago did not deal with older people.

"The Young and the Restless," which is midway through its 14th year on CBS, should be with the network even beyond its next 14 years. Everyone eagerly anticipated the debut of "Y&R" in March 1973, and John Conboy, producer at the time, didn't disappoint. Conboy (now executive producer of "Capitol") had, and still has, a talent for finding new actors that not only looked good on screen, but could act as well. (David Hasselhoff of "Knight Rider," who played Snapper Foster on "Y&R"; and Tom Selleck of "Magnum P.I.," who played Jed Andrews on "Y&R," were Conboy discoveries.

It's something that's never before been achieved on daytime TV: On July 30, "The Young and the Restless" will have completed 500 consecutive weeks - nearly 10 years - as the No. 1-rated soap opera. The milestone will be marked that day by a brief lunchtime ceremony outside CBS Television City that will include the release of 500 black and red (the show's trademark colors) balloons and a speech by the show's co-creator and longtime head writer, Bill Bell. Bell, who created the show with his wife, Lee, said from the moment it debuted on March 26, 1973, he never doubted that it would be a success.

Use soap. Don't use soap. Soak, rinse, wipe . . . How did washing fresh fruits and vegetables get so complicated? Whatever happened to using just plain water the way our grandmothers did? Well, two things have changed since the days when most Americans ate produce out of their own gardens: the use of harsher pesticides and discoveries of more illness-causing bacteria in commercially grown food. U.S. Department of Agriculture data widely reported in May showed detectable residue of at least one pesticide on 73 percent of conventional fruits and vegetables tested and on 23 percent of organic produce.

He stood before his adoring fans, wearing a benign smile and a ripped orange T-shirt. TV soap superstar James DePaiva, "Max" on One Life to Live, was holding court at a charity softball game in Conshohocken that attracted more than 800 fans. All that stood between DePaiva, 30, and his fans was a metal fence that strained with the collective weight of hundreds of star-struck teenage girls. "Max, Max," they cheered. "Just stand there and smile," said another as cameras snapped in Max's sea-green eyes.

D IANE DILEMANI, 58, of Franklintown, is founder of Beautiart Soaps, an all-natural, handcrafted-soaps boutique company she just launched online. Dilemani is a former makeup artist and retail beauty specialist with more than 20 years' experience in the beauty and skin-care industry. Q: How'd you come up with the idea for Beautiart? A: It started as a hobby and I would give soap as gifts. Then people started purchasing the soap as gifts for themselves or others. I thought, you know, maybe I could make some money on this.

One of the oddest and most frustrating episodes of Philadelphia's long-running governmental soap opera faded to a close Thursday. It did so absent any heroes, with a baffling plot, and its two stars shouting over one another's lines even as the curtain fell. Regardless of who ultimately is deemed at fault, the sorry debacle of the aborted sale of the Philadelphia Gas Works seems a drama fully deserving its scathing reviews and one that has done nothing to enhance the stature either of its lead actors - Mayor Nutter and City Council President Darrell L. Clarke - or the city.

Ruby Dee, 91, the trailblazing actress, activist and American social conscience, died Wednesday night of natural causes at her home in New Rochelle, N.Y., surrounded by her three children and seven grandchildren. She had outlived soul mate Ossie Davis, her husband of 56 years, by nearly a decade. On Broadway, in movies, and as a civil rights activist, the birdlike woman with the stirring alto voice was a change-maker and also a beneficiary of the changes she helped make. "I didn't have the kind of talent or personality that kept me dreaming about Hollywood," she reflected late in life.

Q uestion. My brother renovated my second-floor bathroom, which included a new tub, faucets, shower, and a diverter. Now, every time I do a load of wash, when the first-floor washer is filling up, a lot of water comes out of my shower faucet. Answer. I am assuming your brother is not a professional plumber, just a nice guy who was trying to help his sister and save her the services, and thus the expense, of a professional. But you may well need a plumber to unravel this mess.

SINCE TODAY looks like a perfect time to stay inside and watch TV, here are a few TV-related Tattle items. In Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro is blaming soap operas for the country's high crime rate, accusing them of spreading "anti-values" to young people by glamorizing violence, guns and drugs. Last year, Maduro attacked violent video games and the movie "Spider-Man," which, we guess, spread the value of being bitten by a radioactive spider to young people. It's unclear, however, whether the government will take steps to restrict programming or impose harsher rules on the soap operas, known as telenovelas, which are hugely popular across Latin America.

When Leah Troiano's young daughter was diagnosed first with a tumor and later with lung disease, the Havertown resident knew she had to make a change. "I couldn't just stand by and do nothing. So I cleared my house of any toxic chemicals," said Troiano, 44, explaining it was an intuitive response rather than doctor's orders. "It was a coping mechanism, among other things. " She started with the items that had blatant warning labels, like paint and bug spray, but then decided the shampoo and deodorant also had to go. "Once I started clearing the house out, I cleared everything out. " That included her laundry detergent, dish soap, and cleaning supplies.

M Y FORMER hairstylist, Steve Duross, 51, of Midtown Village, a native of Willow Grove, is founder and owner of duross & langel, on 13th Street near Sansom. The shop specializes in natural, handmade soaps, bath and body products. It opened in 2004 in the front room of Duross' former home on Locust Street near 12th, which also housed the salon where he styled my hair. Q: When did you get into the soap business? A: I opened my first store in 1999, the Philadelphia Soap Co., which I later sold.

George Reinholt, 73, of Essington, one of daytime television's most popular stars in the 1960s and 1970s, died of cancer Monday, Nov. 11, at Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park. The handsome, dark-haired actor was best known for Steven Frame, the tycoon role he created and played on NBC's Another World from 1968 to 1975. Frame was hardheaded, arrogant, selfish, and opinionated. The soap opera ran in the 3-to-3:30 p.m. time slot on weekdays starting on May 4, 1964, four years before Mr. Reinholt joined the cast, and for that half-hour millions of American women were glued to the set. For four of the years he played Frame, Mr. Reinholt had the highest TV-Q rating in daytime television, according to television magazine polls at that time.

ERIKA SLEZAK may have spent her career playing good girl Victoria "Viki" Lord on "One Life to Live," but she had a rebellious streak during her time at the now-defunct Sacred Heart at Eden Hall in the Northeast. "My best friends used to convince the teachers that we needed to go to the library in Torresdale to study," Slezak told me. "We would spend 20 minutes there and then we would go to the Mayfair Diner. We would eat hamburgers because the school's food would leave something to be desired.